1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to portable, collapsible hunting blinds, ice-fishing shanties, and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to a sports shelter which features wall components which are foldable and which telescopically interconnect for providing easy assembly and disassembly, as well as for providing, when in a folded configuration, a sled for transportation of items and game animals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hunters frequently utilize blinds which provide shelter from the elements as well a camouflage with respect to game animals. These blinds generally feature four walls, a door, a roof, and windows through which the hunter may observe and shoot game. Ice-fishermen frequently utilize a shanty above their ice holes, the shanty having four walls, a door and a roof. Materials utilized in the construction of stationary sports shelters are frequently wood, plywood and other common building materials. Where portability is an issue, lighter materials are utilized.
In the prior art there are a number of different kinds of portable sports shelters. U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,746, dated Dec. 17, 1974, discloses a foldable shanty made of foamed plastic panels with fabric hinges. U.S. Pat. No. 2,837,777 to White, dated Jun. 10, 1958, discloses a duck blind constructed of selectively folded corrugated paperboard. U.S. Pat. No. 3,017,194 to Anderson, dated Jan. 16, 1962, discloses a collapsible shelter constructed of hinged panels which unfold into a shelter and fold into a toboggan. U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,237 to Smith, dated Jan. 9, 1973, discloses upper and lower courses of rigid hinged sections, the courses are hinged together; the courses and sections unfold to form a partial enclosure and fold together for transportation. U.S. Pat. No. 2,980,124 to Atchison, dated Jan. 6, 1960, discloses a portable shelter constructed of wooden frame members and canvass. U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,346 to Husted, discloses a hunting blind constructed of foldable corner and strut members which are covered by a painted fabric. U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,334 to Miller, dated Sep. 12, 1972, discloses a hunting blind constructed of a plurality of foldable poles covered by a plastic. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,265 to Maggio, dated Dec. 4, 1990, discloses a portable privacy shelter having a plurality of coaxially disposed wall sections which mutually telescope, and which are held in the extended position by friction.
While a wide variety of portable sports shelters are known in the prior art, there remains the need for a portable shelter which is very easily carried, unfolded, assembled, disassembled and folded, and which, in the folded configuration, forms a sled for transporting gear and game animals.